Government Minister reflects on Slipper's resignation

Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Anthony Albanese joins us from Parliament House to reflect on the day in parliament and the resignation of Peter Slipper as Speaker.

Transcript

LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: And with me now from Canberra is the Leader of Government Business in the House, Anthony Albanese. Minister, was this Mr Slipper's own decision...

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF GOVERNMENT BUSINESS: G'day.

LEIGH SALES: G'day... or was any pressure applied?

ANTHONY ALBANESE: No, this was a decision by someone who holds the Parliament in high regard. Whatever people think about Mr Slipper, the fact is he was a very good chair of the Parliament. He also was very concerned with parliamentary reform and proper conduct of the Parliament. He was... it was clear to him that the relentless negativity of Tony Abbott and the Opposition, prepared to wreck and destroy everything they touch, was going to continue and that, I think, brings down the standing of the Parliament as a whole. So he's put aside his personal interests. I think it's a courageous decision by Mr Slipper.

LEIGH SALES: OK, when did you learn that he was going to resign?

ANTHONY ALBANESE: I spoke to Mr Slipper this afternoon.

LEIGH SALES: After that vote occurred in the House?

ANTHONY ALBANESE: Yes, I spoke to him this afternoon. I've had a couple of discussions with him about timing and about the processes, etcetera, the election of a new Speaker with the clerk.

LEIGH SALES: Did you encourage him not to step down?

ANTHONY ALBANESE: No, it was a decision for him that he came to and him alone. This is a very difficult decision. This is a position that he aspired to. He, I think, was a very good Speaker of the Parliament that was recognised across the spectrum and indeed by the media that he was a very effective chair. However, it was clear that the Opposition, in terms of their attitude towards Mr Slipper, was going to continue.

LEIGH SALES: OK, we've made that point. So let's move on. When will a new Speaker be appointed?

ANTHONY ALBANESE: A new Speaker will be elected this evening and a new Deputy Speaker, if the Labor caucus choose Anna Burke, who's the current Deputy Speaker to take on that role.

LEIGH SALES: And is that the likely candidate?

ANTHONY ALBANESE: Certainly it's the candidate with my support. I think Anna Burke has shown herself to be a very effective chair of the Parliament. She's experienced, she's been the Deputy Speaker and I think it would be appropriate that she take on the job. But that's a decision for caucus that will meet in the next hour or so.

LEIGH SALES: Have you had any discussions with Rob Oakeshott about the possibility of him becoming Speaker?

ANTHONY ALBANESE: No, I have not.

LEIGH SALES: Today before Mr Slipper resigned, Labor voted to keep him as Speaker after the revelations of these vulgar sexist comments that he made. Just how far will Labor lower its standards to cling to power?

ANTHONY ALBANESE: Let's get real here, Leigh...

LEIGH SALES: I am getting real.

ANTHONY ALBANESE: What has this got to do with clinging to power?

LEIGH SALES: Because you wanted to keep the numbers in the Parliament as they were, giving yourself a bit of a buffer.

ANTHONY ALBANESE: No, the balance in the Parliament as of tonight is potentially one extra vote for the Government or for the Opposition; whatever way Peter Slipper as the Independent Member exercises his vote now that he's no longer the Speaker. But the fact is that the Government felt it was entirely inappropriate and unprecedented for Tony Abbott to come in and move such a motion. If Tony Abbott wants to speak about sexist behaviour he should have a good look at his own behaviour and his conduct - not just inside the Parliament but outside as well - at demonstrations such as the one that the Prime Minister referred to that was shown in the news clip that foreshadowed this interview.

LEIGH SALES: You've made your point about Tony Abbott having supposedly double standards, so let's move on from that. How does Labor justify supporting a Speaker who demeans women, who has made lewd remarks about female genitalia, who calls an MP an "ignorant bitch"?

ANTHONY ALBANESE: No, let's be very clear here. That was a text message, the last one, from Mr Ashby to Mr Slipper that then there was a return text message from Mr Slipper. With regard to Mr Slipper's comments, whether they are sexist, I, earlier on today, prior to question time, made my views very clear, which is that they are offensive. The Prime Minister made her position clear that they are offensive and Mr Slipper, indeed, issued an unreserved apology which stands in very stark contrast to some of the non-apologies that we've seen from figures engaged in sexist comments in recent days.

LEIGH SALES: Well, Alan Jones makes a repellent mark and Labor pillories him. Tony Abbott is constantly accused of misogyny and labelled someone unworthy of political leadership. Yet Peter Slipper makes appalling comments and yet Labor voted for him to remain as Speaker, keeping his massive salary and role outside the House, it's a definition of hypocrisy, isn't it?

ANTHONY ALBANESE: Not at all, Leigh.

LEIGH SALES: What is it then?

ANTHONY ALBANESE: No, it's entirely appropriate that the Government not rush to judgment with regard to voting to remove a Speaker. That hasn't happened in 112 years of the Parliament. We disassociated ourselves from those comments, we said they were offensive and wrong. The Speaker indeed, or the former Speaker now agreed with that when he issued an unreserved apology - and that stands in stark contrast to the Opposition who... I don't see Tony Abbott resigning from his position in order to uphold the dignity of the Opposition.

LEIGH SALES: But until Mr Slipper resigned, Labor was quite happy to have someone with those views in a senior leadership role in the Parliament?

ANTHONY ALBANESE: Because, Leigh, in terms of the processes... let's be clear here, these text messages became evident as a result of a court case where the judge has reserved his opinion after Friday and is yet to hand down that opinion. What we said was, "Let the legal processes take their course and then there should be a consideration of the politics of this, but let the legal processes take their course". That is indeed what the Opposition called for. We know that the Opposition from day one in this Parliament has been engaged in the longest dummy spit in Australian political history.

LEIGH SALES: I don't want to talk about the Opposition, sorry to interrupt, I want to talk about Labor. You raised the court matter. Matters of illegality are one thing but this is a matter of character and the text messages reveal a character that wouldn't change regardless of the court outcome?

ANTHONY ALBANESE: Well, I'm not privy to all the circumstances of the text messages. I unreservedly...

LEIGH SALES: But do you think there's context that would justify them?

ANTHONY ALBANESE: No, I've found those messages offensive and I've made that very clear. What we don't do as a Parliament is remove people from office on the basis of a context when there is a legal process taking place. That's the context here, Leigh - and we've had previously comments from the Opposition that have indeed been critical of Government members and have said that we have no right to comment on the court case.

LEIGH SALES: You have pointed to Tony Abbott's behaviour repeatedly, but to simplify your argument it seems to be what you're saying is: don't criticise our behaviour because his behaviour is worse?

ANTHONY ALBANESE: No, that's not right at all. Peter Slipper... let's put these text messages in context. They weren't made... most of them are the ones that have been pointed to as being offensive, quite rightly, weren't made as Peter Slipper as Speaker. They were prior to Mr Ashby working for him, they were when Peter Slipper was a member of the LNP - one of the nine times in which he was preselected as a Liberal National Party candidate. It's a bit rough for Tony Abbott to wake up this morning and discover he doesn't like the character of Peter Slipper. He was happy to give him references, he was happy to go to his wedding, he was happy to engage in personal support time after time.

LEIGH SALES: It was Labor today. It was Labor today...

ANTHONY ALBANESE: It was Labor today absolutely supporting the Speaker, as you would expect from any government, from any government, and indeed any parliamentarian. What was extraordinary was the attempt to remove a Speaker based upon a motion without notice on the floor of the House of Representatives based upon what you've termed and they term a character issue. But if you want to look at character issues across the board there are people like Sophie Mirabella and the demonstration that was held outside my office; the sort of comments that we continue to hear from Opposition members who continue to hold high office.

LEIGH SALES: Anthony Albanese, we'll have to leave it there, thank you very much for your time.